More Than Words? Anti-Femicide Parties and Reduction of Gender-Based Violence

• In Event: Gender and Politics in the Global South 2

Abstract

Violence against women and girls remains a pressing issue worldwide. In Latin America, various legislative measures have been introduced to curb such violence over the past years. By 2016, 16 countries in the region had included femicide as a crime within their legislation (Essayag, 2017). Yet, the consequences remain limited, a fact often attributed to the lack of political will to implement these legislative tools. Latin American governments have approached crime mainly using tough-on-crime (mano dura) policies, and more recently, crime prevention schemes based on a wide range of policies that go from community policing to social support for families at risk (Muggah, 2019). Recent research suggests that the election of tough-on-crime candidates is associated with an increase in violent crime (Novaes 2018). Moreover, these policies are generally not designed to address gender-based violence. Interventions such as the creation of women’s care centers and women’s police stations have been found to decrease violence against women in some countries (Agüero 2013; Kavanaugh et al. 2018; Perova and Reynolds 2017). However, the evidence on what works to reduce gender-based violence is still scarce and mixed. Campaigns to raise awareness of violence against women, for example, have been found to potentially increase such violence (Agüero et al. 2019). Little is known about the overall effectiveness of local politicians affiliated with anti-femicide parties in curbing violence against women. Relying on a regression discontinuity design, we study whether parties supportive of legislation to curb femicides managed to reduce gender-based violence in their municipalities once elected into office. We also investigate associated mechanisms. We focus on Guatemala, where 7,486 homicides of women were committed in the 2008-2019 period – 3,314 of which were filed as femicides by the general attorney’s office. Despite adopting legislation against gender-based violence relatively early in the region, its enforcement is unevenly supported across the political sphere. We compare municipalities in which parties in support of anti-femicide legislation barely won mayoral elections in 2011 to municipalities in which they barely lost. Our preliminary findings highlight the challenges of reducing gender-based violence. Overall, our study has important implications for the implementation of anti-GBV legislation in areas deeply affected by such violence.

Author

• David Dow, Duke University